Siemens to build EnBW Hohe See as first offshore wind project with extended scope

For the first time, Siemens Wind Power will provide complete offshore wind engineering and development, including foundation work, for the EnBW Hohe See offshore wind project. Hohe See owner EnBW is a planned 497-MW offshore wind power plant in the North Sea.

At EnBW Hohe See offshore wind farm, Siemens will install 71 units of its turbine type SWT-7.0-154, rated at 7 MW with a rotor diameter of 154 m.

Investment decisions for the offshore wind farm are now final, and the project will be installed starting in early 2018. It will be built at water depths of up to 40 meters, at a site 90 km north of the German island Borkum.

The 71, 7-MW SWT-7.0-154 wind turbines will be manufactured at Siemens’ new nacelle plant in Cuxhaven beginning mid-2018, and will be shipped to the project harbor in early 2019. The blades will be shipped from factories in Hull, UK, and Aalborg, Denmark.

Siemens began development for the foundations of EnBW Hohe See last year. The result was a large monopile design with a length of up to 80 m, and a weight of up to 1,500 tons to anchor the wind turbines solidly into the sea bed.

For this project, Siemens is partnering with logistics specialist GeoSea. The company of the Deme Group will also deliver the foundations, including monopiles and transition pieces. With its extended scope Siemens helped to mitigate risk-exposure to the investors.

The integrated design and installation approach together with the complete solution including turbines, towers, TPs, and foundations provides investors with maximum security and confidence regarding the financing and completion of this project.

“We are happy to apply our full scope of engineering services at EnBW Hohe See offshore wind project,” states Michael Hannibal, Offshore CEO at Siemens Wind Power. “The extended scope makes this 497-MW wind power plant one of the largest projects that we have ever executed. Our customer thereby benefits from the proven experience of a multi-national company along the entire value chain of large offshore wind projects.”

Siemens has more than 25 years of experience with offshore projects starting with Vindeby offshore project in Denmark, commissioned in 1991.

Commissioning is planned for the third quarter of 2019. Hohe See will generate enough power to supply 560,000 households with clean renewable energy.

After commissioning, Siemens will perform service and maintenance for a period of at least five years. Grid connection will be established via the BorWin 3 high-voltage DC link and BorWin Gamma converter platform, which will be installed by Siemens for grid operator Tennet.